Re: Hiker's Satellite Predictions

Thanks to Steve, WI2W who found the original.
Here is my revised response.
>>...I will commence a ... trek...I''m looking for a
>>"trail angel" to... provide me with regular
>>updates on APRS satellite passes and frequencies
>
>This is a good idea, but failing that, it is also easy to
>keep track of these satellites as long as you have
>a watch on your wrist and a pencil and notepad.
All you need to know is the period of the satellite.
100 minutes: PCsat, and AO-27
98 minutes: SO-50
92 minutes: ISS
If you hear a pass of any of them, unless its the
last one for the day, then you will hear it again one
period later (or 1 period earlier). In addition, the
overall pass geometry is moving earlier a fixed
amount each day...
For PCsat and AO-27:
- Each pass is 30 minutes earlier each day.
- Then once a week, ADD 100 minutes for PCsat
- Once every 3 days add 100 minutes for AO-27
(At least this works at my latitude.)
For ISS:
- Each day, the best pass is either 32 minutes later
or 62 minutes earlier. Again, you may hear another
one 92 minutes earlier or later too..
If you ever completely lose track, you still generally
know what time of day the satellite comes over.
just turn on your receiver for 90 minutes and during that
time frame and when you DO hear a pass, mark it,
and then apply the above timings to keep on track
again.
I used this while on a 2 week family trip in remote
areas of Utah. By not bringing along a laptop,
wife never knew I was "playing satellite" while driving
along. To get in sync, I just monitored for half a day
for ISS, and once I heard it, then, a pencil and note
pad let me estimate passes the rest of the trip.
de WB4APR@amsat.org, Bob
----
Sent via amsat-bb@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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